If ya’ll read my latest welcome and apology post from being gone from the blog for so long, you’ll probably remember me mentioning that I have recently moved to a 40-acre farm and with it recently adopted a new pet! Let me introduce Oliver!
Oliver is a “mini” potbelly pig and I use the word mini very loosely, Oliver weighed around 180lbs when we adopted him. Prior to adopting Ollie, I found out from his previous home that one of his favorite treats were marshmallows. Now if you don’t know very much about pigs let alone mini pigs like myself prior to adopting him, let me tell you that I’ve read mini pigs are even more prone to obesity.
I’m not really sure why but Ollie is definitely obese, and unfortunately, after gaining the weight it’s really hard to shed those pounds. The first thing I did was research treat or food games that encouraged exercise. As you probably can imagine pigs are incredibly food motivated. So, I set up multiple “games” Ollie I knew would enjoy during Breakfast, snack time, and Dinner while also making it required that he walk around and get some exercise.
I really think they’re working too! It may not be easy to tell from the photos but it looks like he’s lost a good 30lbs so far!!
When we adopted Ollie he had always grown up as a pet piggy (he’s a little over a year now), but his previous family were giving him up because they lived in a very suburban neighborhood, Ollie was being very destructive to their home and they were receiving a good amount of complaints from their neighbors.
So, when we adopted him we decided the best life we could give him was a life where he was free to roam safely around the farm (and temporarily in our farmhouse) and root and get all the exercise his piggy heard desired.
I, however, really worried about him appropriately acclimating to his new outside environment when he’d been used to being an inside pet for so long. On top of that, it was also already wintering here in Colorado and it just didn’t feel right turning him out in that weather so soon.
Something I mentioned in my welcome post is that I love DIYs, but I’m not sure I explained how much. I love building and making things you guys, like so much. Ever since I was a little girl I remember collecting screws and wood and being so convinced that I would take the “blueprints” from the book Moonpies (if any of you remember that book), and I would build a space ship from those blueprints!
Adorable honestly when I think about it but I remain the same to this day. Constantly daydreaming about all the things I would love to build, or sew.
Speaking of DIY projects if you are also into sewing projects like me, you should go check out my latest post where I share how I made these super easy, cheap, and very eco-friendly DIY Paperless Cloth Napkins!
Are any of you guys like that too? Or am I just weird?
We didn’t currently have a shelter outside for Ollie when we first brought him home. So, I took that as an opportunity to build Ollies Piggy Palace!!
I wanted it to be done upright with all the bells and whistles, because of course I couldn’t just build him a simple three sided lean-to.
It needed windows where he’d have a view of the mountains. It needed a loft where I could store his extra food or straw, it needed good insulation, so he could stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
And of course, it needed to be cute and have all those farmhouse feels DUH, OBVIOUSLY!!
I thought it would be fun to share some of the inspiration I used when starting this project before I share what it’s looking like now.
Here are some photos I found on Pinterest, that I’ve been using for motivation. They’re all pretty much kids playhouses that I thought would make an adorable Farmhouse Piggy Palace for Ollie!
There’s really not much in the way of inspiration or examples (at least not many cute ones), when you search for “Farmhouse Pig Shelters”.
Which makes sense when I think about it, everyone looks at me like I’m nuts when I tell him I’m building him his own house haha
Is there a specific farmhouse design you like more than another?
I really loved the first and the third photos, but they are all soo cute!
Alrighty, because this post is already getting long and also because this was the biggest project I’ve ever attempted, I thought I’d make this a series where I show you exactly how I created Ollies Piggy Palace and where I made mistakes and how I’ll do it differently next time!
Here’s a little sneak peek at what the DIY Farmhouse Piggy Palace looks like in construction for you guys.
What do you guys think?!
Not too shabby for my first big construction project right? Not that I’m bragging but I’m pretty proud of myself so far!
I do just want to say before we get too far along in this series that I am NOT by any means a contractor or at all expert on construction, and his house will probably end up looking much different than I envisioned but the whole process been super fun, and a huge learning experience.
I’ll be sharing some of the resources I used as I share the progress throughout this series too. So if you guys get the itch to try and tackle a project like this you have some guidance.
That’s all for today’s post but I want to thank you guys all for stoping by the blog today it means so much to me even if it’s you’re first time or you’re a continued reader. Your support means more than you know, and I love you for it!!
Now, I hope you’ll come back to see Ollies Piggy Palace progress and enjoy it and learn something at the same time!!
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